Fortified Church
ȚapuThe medieval church consists of a church hall, a rectangular space between the choir and the hall, above which a tower may probably have stood in earlier times, similarly to Axente Sever and Agârbiciu. There are Gothic traceried windows in the choir. The sacrament alcove in the north wall of the choir also dates from Gothic times. The church is surrounded by an oval enclosing wall strengthened in the west by a fortified gate tower that juts out into the courtyard. The tower has massive buttresses and grooves for a portcullis. The ground plan of the enclosing wall and the fact that the latter was build of boulders lets us presume that it dates back to the 14th century, before the Ottoman raids.
Vasiu Florinel +40/765/549/463
Fortified Church
ȚapuThe medieval church consists of a church hall, a rectangular space between the choir and the hall, above which a tower may probably have stood in earlier times, similarly to Axente Sever and Agârbiciu. There are Gothic traceried windows in the choir. The sacrament alcove in the north wall of the choir also dates from Gothic times. The church is surrounded by an oval enclosing wall strengthened in the west by a fortified gate tower that juts out into the courtyard. The tower has massive buttresses and grooves for a portcullis. The ground plan of the enclosing wall and the fact that the latter was build of boulders lets us presume that it dates back to the 14th century, before the Ottoman raids.
Vasiu Florinel +40/765/549/463
The three window traceries of the choir end are equipped with four-leaf and pointed arch decoration. The sacrament niche on the north wall of the chancel also deserves a mention. It has a canopy cover, which is formed laterally from late Gothic ornamental gables with a finial.
The simple baroque altar is dated 1712. The naive images depict the crucifixion, the Last Supper, four evangelists, Moses with the 10 commandments and an angel with the cross.
The year 1412 is on the pews, and on the gallery parapet we read the years 1410, 1642, 1838 and 1884.
The organ is an instrument by J.J. Augustine, erected in 1805. It has a manual with 11 registers.
The oldest bell dates from 1623. It bears the inscription in Latin majuscules: "HOMINIBUS RENOVATA + GLORIA HOC OPUS FECIT BARTHOLOMEUS CEGLER ANNO PASTORIS BLASY SARETORIS 1623" (RENOVATED FOR MEN + HONOR. THIS WORK WAS DONE BY BARTHOLOMEUS CEGLER IN THE YEAR OF PASTOR BLASY SARETORIS 1623 DID)
In the west there is a heavily fortified gate tower, half of which is in the courtyard and the other half outside the ring wall. In the corners the tower is supported by strong buttresses. The main gate was secured by a portcullis. There are arguments to date the defenses of Țapu in its original form to the 14th century, possibly as early as the 13th century. On the one hand, the oval shape of the wall speaks for a dating before the time of firearms, on the other hand, we find the establishment of the gate tower on the ring wall of fortifications from the 13th and from the beginning of the 14th century, for example in Câlnic. The design made of river stone masonry also speaks for an early dating.
| 1250-1320 | Many arguments suggest that the ring wall and the tower were built in this period. |
|---|---|
| 1309 | For the first time the village is mentioned in a tithe process, where among others the priest of Țapu ("Hulduualach") is listed. |
| 1400 | Judging by the Gothic architectural sculpture, the church could have been built around 1400. |
| 1416 | King Sigismund decrees that the prince of Transylvania must protect the inhabitants of the four villages of Țapu, Mănărade, Cenade and Soroștin against the incursions of the nobles. The four villages formed a single administrative unit. |
| 1476 | The king forbids the bishop of Cenad to tear the four villages from the Saxon union. |
| 1495 | The king has to intervene again against the nobility, he pays compensation to the Doerfern for the losses suffered - salt worth 100 guilders. |
| 1552 | King Ferdinand lends the four villages to the canon of Alba Iulia. Already in the next year, 1553, the four villages are lent to the citizens of Sibiu. Since the citizens of Sibiu do not fulfill their obligations, the four villages are given to a count for 4,000 florins in the same year. |
| 1772 | Maria Theresa grants 83 villages for 100 years to the court chancellor Michael Teleki for 20 000 ducats. Among these villages is also Țapu. Until then the place was an unpledged princely dominion, so the subjects did not have to do heavy services, now this episode is over. |
| 1835 | Overnight, the inhabitants of 25 farms flee to Brasov and Sibiu. The village suffered from ruthless and cruel estate managers. |
| 1848 | After the dissolution of serfdom, half of the village's land is ceded to the Teleki family for the arrears of 24 years of rent. |
| 1881 | Abtsdorf counts 8 stone houses, a sign that the village could not recover from serfdom in the 19th century. |
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